Ford Racing Z427 - New Head Gaskets Installed - Merry Christmas

[CDXXVII]

I finished installing my new head gaskets this weekend. I must say that I did not enjoy having to pull the engine apart in a finished car but it does feel good to have done the work myself.

I have read several posts by others stating that head gaskets do not fail without reason. In my case I was not able to identify any cause for the failure.

The engine has not ever over heated. The coolant leak was to the outside of the engine and not into the cylinders. I did not have oil in the coolant nor coolant in the cylinders.

I took the heads to my local race shop. JGM Motorsports. The heads were nearly perfect with exception to a little brinelling from the head gasket rings. I went ahead and had them surfaced, cleaned and leak tested.

The owner of the shop was kind enough to come to my house and inspect the engine block. He said all was perfect and complimented me on my prep work for the new gaskets.

The only other thing I found to be odd was that the head alignment dowel pins were in pretty rough shape. I showed them to the race shop and they were not surprised but that I should replace them.

I only have 25 miles on the engine after replacing the head gaskets. The engine only has 2600 miles on it altogether. Hoping that all is perfect now. Fingers Crossed.

[RickP]

Back in business. Engine looks sweet!

[scottiec]

Good work. Car looks fantastic

[Scotty's65]

ARP head studs fixed my gasket issues on my 89 5.0 H.O. What head bolts did you use?

Scott

[CDXXVII]

ARP Bolts with ARP Ultratorque Lube

[Itchief]

Looks great very nice job

[karlos]

Can you please provide an update on how the repair is holding up? Were you ever able to identify root cause? Also, what replacement gaskets did you use?

I have the same engine and believe I'm seeing the same issue. Can see coolant in the gap along the outboard edge of both heads where they meet the block.

Thanks.

-Karl

[CDXXVII]

Karl

I will update this thread when I get home. I only have 1000 miles on the engine since the repair but all looks good so far. Before you get into a tear down be sure that the coolant is not coming from somewhere else. Check your intake gaskets, your water pump, and your thermostat housing. Coolant will travel along that gap but not necessarily be from a head gasket leak. It seems odd that you would have an issue with both heads. My leak was localized on the outboard side between cylinders 6&7.

Can you please provide an update on how the repair is holding up? Were you ever able to identify root cause? Also, what replacement gaskets did you use?

I have the same engine and believe I'm seeing the same issue. Can see coolant in the gap along the outboard edge of both heads where they meet the block.

Thanks.

-Karl

[Clover]

I am not an expert but I just watched and episode of Engine Masters that they tested out 3 different size heads on a 351 stroked to 408. In the episode, they noted that the head gasket can be installed backwards which will block off the coolant from going through the whole engine. I have no idea if this would be the cause, however, it does sound like it is easy to install the head gasket backwards. Maybe that forced coolant out the side. I have no experience with this but thought I would mention it just in case.

[karlos]

Karl

Before you get into a tear down be sure that the coolant is not coming from somewhere else. Check your intake gaskets, your water pump, and your thermostat housing. Coolant will travel along that gap but not necessarily be from a head gasket.

That’s a very real possibility. The upper radiator hose was recently off to shorten it up for additional hood clearance. There’s a clear leak path from the thermostat housing to the passenger side cylinder head. But at first glance it didn’t seem obvious that coolant would flow along the driver’s side, too. Not sure how much coolant actually came out as the adjustment was made at the body shop.

I’ll clean things up, run the engine a bit, and hope for the best.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Jacob McCrea]

For what it's worth, I recently had an engine builder caution me about over-tightening the intake manifold bolts on Windsor engines. He basically said that the intake manifold will act as a wedge and try to spread the cylinder heads on the block, thus potentially disturbing the head gasket seal. I have no personal experience with this but will certainly be following that advice. Can anyone else comment on this?

[cv2065]

For what it's worth, I recently had an engine builder caution me about over-tightening the intake manifold bolts on Windsor engines. He basically said that the intake manifold will act as a wedge and try to spread the cylinder heads on the block, thus potentially disturbing the head gasket seal. I have no personal experience with this but will certainly be following that advice. Can anyone else comment on this?

Haven't heard of that, but just follow the torque specs on the intake bolts and follow the tightening sequence. Might have to re-tighten after the RTV sets...

[Big Blocker]

Glad to hear that you are back on the road and have "road-tested" it enough to feel confident in your repairs . . . hope to see you at HB in a couple weeks.

Doc